Sleep in a Log

Introducing another member of the oddball accommodations movement: the wine barrel hotel.

By Lisa Rogak

We’ve seen treehouse hotels, igloo inns, even underwater resorts.

Now introducing yet another member of the oddball accommodations movement: the wine barrel hotel.

“Many people have dozed off in a bar after a little too much wine, while others have wished they could be magically transported home to bed,” says Steve Dobson of the online hotel site, Unusual Hotels of the World. “By reserving an overnight stay in one of these barrels, you can sleep in comfort and no longer have to travel between cask and bed!”

Here are three places—all in Europe—where you can bed down in a bona fide wine barrel. And while this last part might be obvious, it deserves a mention: Your room will smell slightly of wine.

Drosselgasse, Germany: You can select from six wine casks for your overnight stay at the Hotel Lindenwirt and each barrel comes complete with a bath, telephone and TV. We’ll refrain from commenting on all of the room names though one is known as the Tom-Cat Hole while another goes by Old Maid. Travelers wary of this whole idea can opt for one of the hotel’s more conventional rooms, 100 in all.

Stavoren, Switzerland: Stavorem, the oldest city in the Netherlands, has another claim to fame: visitors can sleep in a wine barrel that once held more than 14,500 liters of wine in its heydayat the Hotel de Vrouwe van Stavoren (translates to The Lady of Stavoren). The property’s wine-barrel room is called the Wine Butt, and comes with a sitting room, bathroom, TV and free wi-fi.

Trasadingen, Switzerland:Open May through October, the Waldmeier’s Fasshotel, i.e. the Barrel & Breakfast, features three huge 15,000-liter wine barrels that sleep six people each; the bathroom is in the adjacent barn. “Barrelkeepers” Andres and Moni Ruedi grow grapes and melons in the fields surrounding the B&B, and if more than 18 travelers show up, the others head next door to spend the night in the wine cellar, which can sleep up to 18 more.